


A Patchwork Doll

by ShakespeareanHoneyBadgers



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Recovery, post torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-04
Updated: 2014-02-04
Packaged: 2018-01-11 03:48:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1168307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShakespeareanHoneyBadgers/pseuds/ShakespeareanHoneyBadgers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The power of the wishing well brings Belle back to Mr. Gold after magic returns... Unfortunately she's in bad shape.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. At the Well

It was rumored that the water that ran beneath the wishing well had the power to return what was lost to a person. Mr. Gold hoped that it would return his power so that he might go after Baelfire. Apparently the well was feeling particularly giving.

The smoke began to clear when he heard it. A tapered off scream and then loud gut-wrenching sobs. He had thought he was alone… He twisted around to see what had to be a human being, but its fleshed was so marred it looked little more than a writhing corpse. Mutilated breasts defined her as a woman, long ragged brown hair the only other identifier.

He bent down, confused as to why this thing had appeared. Chunks of skin were missing or peeled off; it looked like someone was trying to skin her alive.

"Miss…?" He tried to brush the hair from her eyes.

She screamed and jerked back, her convulsing slowing down to mere shivers as she stared at him. He stared right back.

"Rrrrumple?" She asked timidly, chapped lips splitting, "Is it really you this time?"

He continued to stare for a moment, and then let out an anguished howl.

"BELLE!"


	2. To the Cabin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mr. Gold's dash to get Belle to the cabin, and to care.

All he could do was keep the blood from continuing to flow. As to actually healing her… Magic worked differently here, and he couldn’t find the right channel in which to mend the countless wounds on her body.

There was no other thought going through his head other than to get her someplace safe, somewhere he could find medical supplies and food and, and… He scooped her up as carefully as he could and stumbled down the hill, moving in frantic lurching strides. She tried to hide the pain she was in, but whimpers and moans still stole through. Her fingertips gripped at his shoulder with what little strength she could muster, trying to hold onto him even as he held on to her.

The run was a blur. The car drive was a blur. There was no room for thought, only instinct as he opened up his cabin in the woods and took her inside.

He lay her down on the couch, and it was only then he felt the throbbing in his leg. Cane… He’d left it somewhere behind, wasn’t sure. Even as he pulled away her fingertips fought to cling to him.

"Ddddon’t leave me, Rum," she begged, "Not again…"

"I won’t, sweetheart," he promised, "I’m just going to get a few things, I’ll be right back."

Her arms fell, and he wasn’t sure if it was because she believed him, or she could no longer summon the strength to hold them up.

He returned a short time later with a medley of items Belle couldn’t hope to name except for a sheet, which he draped over her with the utmost care. Belle bit the inside of her cheek to keep from crying out; every touch to her hurt, even the air. He moved around, picking up one thing and then changing his mind, frantic as though she hadn’t been in pain since the first lashing.

"…she did it after all," Belle finally commented.

Mr. Gold glanced at her, “What’s that?”

"Regina. She made you human after all."

He gave a half smile in response, “…I suppose she did.”

He turned around and Belle stared lustfully at the glass in his hand, half full of the most delicious looking water she’d ever seen.

"Careful, dear," he warned, "Slowly…and I want you to take this too."

"What is it?" She asked, looking warily at the pill in his other hand.

"Medicine," he said. Little more than ibuprofen, but it was all he had right now.

Belle accepted the pill without further questioning, and he pressed the rim of the glass to her lips. She drank greedily, and Mr. Gold was careful not to let her gulp it down too fast. Eventually he pulled away the drained glass and she licked her lips, reclining again.

Mr. Gold stared at her, his Belle, who looked more like a zombie than the woman who had served him. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was his fault… That this was the price of letting her go. Now the woman of his dreams was starved, flayed raw, and he couldn’t even heal her.

All he had done to her…and he couldn’t even end her suffering.

Her blue eyes blinked slowly but continued to watch him, even through the haze of exhaustion and pain.

"…where…"

"In good time," he murmured, "For now, you need to sleep."

She looked downright terrified of the prospect, “If I sleep… You’ll go away. You always do.”

Mr. Gold shook his head, “But I’ll come back, I promise.”

He turned to examine the medical kit again when he felt a featherlight touch on his hand. He glanced down to see an arm covered in bruises, burns, and peeled off skin reaching out, a rough hand just barely holding on to hers.

"Stay… Please," she begged.

Mr. Gold turned away from the supplies and back towards her, “…I will,” he said.

Relieved, her arm dropped down, and Belle finally allowed the exhaustion to take over her. He stood over her until she had fallen into a deep sleep, and then found a chair to sit in beside her.

Yes, he’d protect her. It was the least he could do after everything that had happened to her.


	3. A Bowl of Soup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mr. Gold feeds Belle and discovers who beat her into such a state.

Just as Belle thought, she woke up alone. Rumplestiltskin had left her as he always did during her delusions, and now she was alone. Except…except she hadn’t left the place where she had been taken during this delusion.

And there was an aroma in the air, so strong it made her entire torso clench. Pangs from underneath her tongue kickstarted her mouth watering and she felt like screaming in desire. Food. It was food. She couldn’t even tell what, but it was food.

And then he came into sight, not the Rumplestiltskin she knew but the one she had glimpsed before the effects of her kiss faded, carrying a bowl. And that was when she remembered.

Mr. Gold nearly dropped the soup as Belle tried to scramble away, whining and then screeching at the pain from her wounds.

"Belle, sweetheart, what’s wrong?"

"I know this trick! I know what you’re going to do!" She sobbed, "I’m not going to fall for it, I’m not going to go for the food because you’ll punish me! I can’t!"

Mr. Gold set the bowl down and approached her carefully, trying to find some part of her body it wouldn’t hurt to touch her. He couldn’t, and so his hands merely hovered as though he would cradle her head.

"It’s over, Belle, I promise. No one’s going to hurt you if you eat. I can’t give you much at first but once your body adjusts I’ll let you eat as much of whatever you want as you wish, alright?"

His eyes were so big and brown…and yet it was the same anxious pleading face she recalled seeing the night he came to stop her crying. Her hand reached up to gently touch his face and he didn’t move. He felt warm and soft underneath her raw fingertips.

He was real. This was real. She had escaped the tower at long last.

Once she had settled back down he stepped back, resuming his seat in front of her and picking up the bowl. He offered her a spoonful and hesitantly she put her lips to it. He didn’t douse her in scalding hot liquid when she drank or beat her, and she gratefully took in the first bits of nourishment she had had since…she couldn’t even remember. She went as slow as she could despite her desperation, and was rewarded with Rumple’s soft cooing.

He stopped her at about half the bowl and though she was tempted to beg for more, she just relaxed.

"…where am I?" She murmured.

"Storybrooke," he answered promptly, "A town in a land without magic."

"A land without magic?" Belle echoed.

Mr. Gold nodded, “It’s a long story…” He stared at her, and Belle had the urge to hide from the pain in his eyes, “…Regina was right then… About the clerics.”

Belle tensed at the name, “Is that what she calls her men?”

"…her men?"

She glanced away, “I was on my way back to you… To see if you had calmed down from your little fit and if we could talk about it… One of Regina’s men had found me and told her, and she…” Belle closed her eyes, “…had them do all this to me.”

Rumplestiltskin fell silent and Belle feared that he had been an illusion after all. She opened her eyes to see those eyes, so warm and tender a few minutes before, now ablaze with fury.

"I am going to kill her," he said with as much certainty as telling someone that he planned on going grocery shopping later that day.


End file.
